LAGUNA NIGUEL, Calif. — Chinese electric carmaker BYD will put an electric car on the road this year that goes 250 miles on a charge and intends to bring the vehicle to the United States, a key investor in the company said Tuesday.
“We want to introduce the car in the U.S., ” said Li Lu, founder of LL Investment Partners at Fortune Magazine’s Brainstorm Green conference in Southern California.
His Pasadena, Calif.-based firm owns 2.5% of BYD and was instrumental in getting Warren Buffett to invest in the electric car company, according to Fortune contributing editor Mark Gunther. (Read Gunther’s recent Fortune cover story on BYD here.)
During a panel discussion on electric car batteries, Lu said BYD could produce a battery that went 300 to 400 miles on a charge. “We can do a 300-mile battery today,” he said. “But it’s really heavy stuff, cuts into the space of the car. It’s a matter of what the consumer really needs.”
If BYD does move into the U.S., it will also build auto factories, Lu noted. “When we come to this country, we will do our manufacturing here.”
Green Wombat 
The great thing about electric cars is that they get their charging power from magic. They don’t need power plants or fossil fuels or anything. Sign me up.
Not sure what to think of this. They would be all made here, but the profits would go back to China, but maybe this will force competition and lower the prices to a reasonable level.
I would worry if they were not made in the US, because of cheap labor in China (we wouldn’t be able to compete with them) because no one wants to work for a dollar a day, forget that.
why dont they use pre-existing auto factories? like the ones in Kokomo, Indiana.
Yeah, and if you get thirsty, you can pull over, open up the hood and take a sip of battery fluid.
I’ll believe this when I see one of their cars pass a crash test.
The auto industry is a weapon of mass destruction from poisonous emisions to the deadly way we drive. Technology can solve both problems if only we have the will, the intellegence, to choose to do so. If we would seek after clean energy, safe transportation systems, and health care systems like we bomb other nations and build prisons, America would again be the envy of the World rather than the bully that we have been since Ronald Reagan took the solar panels off the White House and lost the race to energy indipendence to Brazil.
I think electric is def. a good choice to get off of oil, but the thing is where is the electricity coming from? If it’s coming from a coal fired plant then it does nothing, but maybe if it can from Nuclear or Geothermal power well then it would be a great thing.
Although there are recent breakthrough in battery charging time, the real problem is not charging time but total energy stored and of course, safety.
Even with present U.S. home electrical technology, we can easily charge 240V x 30A x10hr = 72 KWhr in the night. With two 30A 240V plugs, the amount will be double. But where is a good efficient battery system which can take this charge? If we can go 200 miles between charging, all gas stations will be closed!
Remember, we can never reach the charging times equal to gas filing time. It will need Mega Ampere DC current system and associated technology. A better option ma be changing the uncharged battery with a fully charged one at charging stations.
Why is Warren Buffett investing in a Chinese electric car company when we need the jobs and technology here in the USA? His job is one I would like to outsource to China where his Chinese company has 10,000 engineers earning $700 per month and working 24/7. I am ashamed of him. He couldn’t have picked a worse time to turn his back on America.
I am glad buffett is investing in a chinese electric car company because they will bring a 10k electric car to us rather than a chevy volt that is going to cost 40k. We will then have freedom from something even more evil, exxon mobil – bp – shell
investment in opportunity is the american way. it is more unamerican to throw money at car companies that burn up cash with no end in sight.
Companies are investing overseas because they have better technology. America gave up on technical education, and thus any competitive advantages.
With America in the shape that it currently is, it does not surprise me in the least bit that the Asian auto industry would be looking at the American consumer as a new customer. I Really don’t care about Buffet I’m just kinda of happy that said Chinese company would be willing to come here and build it’s car. Hopefully this could start a trend with other foreign automakers and bring jobs to the already hundreds of thousands of trained and experienced mechanical engineers that are sitting at home unemployed.
WE NEED TO CREAT JOBS IN U.S.A, NOT IN CHINA!IF WE DO NOT HAVE JOBS HOW CAN WE HAVE MONEY TO BUY CHINES MADE.THAT IS WHY MR. BUFFETT IS A BILLIONAIR BECASUE HE BUYS CHEAP GOODS FROM CHINA TO SELL IN U.S.A. WE ARE CRYING FOR JOBS!
Victor and others are barking up the wrong tree. The US auto industry and other rust belt industries will never again be labor intensive. The US needs jobs, but there must be concomitant training. The sun has set on the days of well-paid US jobs that require a strong back or nimble fingers. New technologies requiring high skills are the future. Improve your mind and you will find a job, Sit on your ass and whine and you will suffer. It won’t be easy but it is paramount that the ‘average Joe’ stop being average and start creating a 21st century skillset.
Discussing changes to the car industry such as:
1)Quality, longer lasting vehicles, cars that last 25-30 years
2)Predicting the parts that will fail and expecting to replace them
and the neutral process required
3)Changing the Fuel, from oil to less oil or to other types of energy
4)Allocating driving privilages and rewards
5)Vehicle standards for other auto’s safety, ie height requirements
Is one of the more obvious example where green business doesn’t fit
with the goal of GDP. Always America’s problem is take home pay,
break even replaceable business/products.
Kristina Brooker
I believe the wage difference between US and China are closing. Whenever there is gap in price in different places, the price will eventually reach some kind of equilibrium. Evidently, the wage in China and India have been rising so it won’t be a dollar a day. Jobs will be returning when that happens. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121479507619315069.html
What you have to worry about is what kind of the jobs will be left in the end of the day? I believe the high tech jobs like computer and green technology are one of fews choices. do your research and go back to school to get the skill sets you need
While CNN is looking to see what will consolidate the Chinese auto market, I think companies like BYD and Tata will dramatically effect the American market and make it more like the Chinese market where profit margins and competition will be fierce. So they better act more quickly and streamline their operations. Otherwise, they will close up shop.